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Related: Lockdown Learning, discuss home schooling during lockdown.
NHS Coronavirus information. Information from gov.uk. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have health concerns, please seek medical attention.
Related: Lockdown Learning, discuss home schooling during lockdown.
Covid
Covid19 Vs swine flu reaction.
Nogodsnomasters · 18/03/2020 14:39
Does anyone know why the governments of the world have had a different reaction to coronavirus than swine flu? According to Google swine flu infected 60 odd million people and a fair few deaths too. I remember having it, I was 22 years old at the time and it was harsh on me a young healthy person. Why did flights not stop then, why did businesses not close? There wasn't even really talk or rumour of those things happening that I remember, and I know social media was only in its infancy then but I did have a Facebook at the time and online news so it can't be the internet spreading the fear?
Blobby10 · 18/03/2020 14:42
I would like to know the answer to this. What are we not being told about CV19? Why the deep cleaning and mass disinfecting and isolation stuff?
AllTheWhoresOfMalta · 18/03/2020 14:43
We must be about the same age OP, I had it in my first year teaching and I felt terrible.
Crackerofdoom · 18/03/2020 14:43
There was a vaccine for Swine Flu which was given to the people who normally receive the flu jab because they are at risk.
There is no vaccine for Swine Flu.
Crackerofdoom · 18/03/2020 14:44
Sorry - should say there is no vaccine for Coronavirus
LoudBatPerson · 18/03/2020 14:45
There was more immunity present in the population (particularly the over 60s) due to earlier similar strains.
Also anti viral medication if given early enough helped to limit the effects of the illness, no medication has been found yet to treat Covid 19.
The current mortality rate for Covid 19 is also much greater than it was for swine flu.
nellodee · 18/03/2020 14:48
If we let Covid-19 loose, number of deaths would be closer to the Spanish flu than swine flu. Hopefully, if we take action, we can keep those figures much lower.
lubeybooby · 18/03/2020 14:50
coronavirus is more deadly and swine flu responded to tamiflu where corona doesn't.
IceColdCat · 18/03/2020 14:52
I would like to know the answer to this too! The total number of deaths so far from Covid-19 worldwide makes the actions being taken (lockdown etc) look like a massive overreaction. There must be a good reason though!?
Absentwomen · 18/03/2020 14:53
Swine flu pandemic affected mostly u 60 year olds with children being affected.
I was in infected from swine flu, and was prescribed Tamiflu. Largely, the pandemic affected rural populations and of course, there wasnt the access to social media that we see a decade on. Also, there was an existing vaccine to combat the spread.
Ageing populations as we have now, are the at risk group from CV and there isnt the vaccine available for this strain of CV. The mutations are also unknown strains.
Seventyone72seventy3 · 18/03/2020 14:54
There was a vaccine pretty quickly for swine flu and vulnerable people were given it. (I got it as pregnant at the time).
NanSlayer · 18/03/2020 14:54
Because we this is a novel virus with possible Gain Of Function.
(Herd immunity can work using vaccination, but immunity though infection takes generations and is simply a stupid idea with a GOF Virus)
Iggly · 18/03/2020 14:56
Coronavirus isn’t a flu strain.
Plus existing medication did help
Plus world wide austerity has ravaged a lot of our health systems making it difficult to cope now. The biggest problem is that the NHS will not cope.
GrumpyHoonMain · 18/03/2020 15:01
There was a vaccine for Swine flu and bird flu because it was the flu so scientists could rush out vaccines quicker.
Covid-19 is a coronavirus which is similar to a cold virus. These viruses tend to mutate quickly (not within epidemics but usually via the next outbreak) and so even if a vaccine does come out in 1 year it will be based on the virus composition as it is now and may not help that year’s outbreak.
I think that’s why scientists are scared. A long term cold virus that kills people is everybody’s worst nightmare because it’s children and babies who are most affected. The only thing protecting them now is immature immune systems (they don’t tend to react harshly) but next year and the year after kids with antibodies to this year’s outbreak may produce greater immune responses thus making them more at risk. There is also the matter that the next mutation may well affect younger people more (like Spanish flu did).
Applejaxx · 18/03/2020 15:03
I was wondering this as well. I actually knew a few people who had Swine Flu. My DB's ex girlfriend and her parents all had it.
Interestingly is still exists. A member of my extended family had it just before Christmas.
Forgone90 · 18/03/2020 15:07
People mention the vaccine but even with this one i thought the problem was all the test and trials that they have to do for the vaccine not actually finding the vaccine itself? did the swine flu vaccine not have to go through all the trials etc?
IpeartreeI · 18/03/2020 15:14
Covid 19 is a type of SARS and you don't want to mess around with that.
Nogodsnomasters · 18/03/2020 18:09
I think I'm starting to understand it, so because swine flu was a mutated version of something they already had a vaccine for they were able to amend that vaccine quicker without human trials and start giving out pretty quickly, whereas covid19 has no basis vaccine to work from and therefore takes longer to produce. Am I on the right path here?
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